John Wayne stars in the fifth I've seen and 15th of the Lone Star/Paul Malvern Production films, directed by westerns veteran Robert N. Bradbury (father of cowboy star Bob Steele and its as good as the others. The plot is well-constructed around murders, love affairs and intimate relations that cross paths and boundaries bring a nice tension and release feel to this film. In a good opening scene, Wayne and Reed Howes (Ben McClure) become friends after a fight. The action throughout is fast, and the relationships as they play out are nicely intertwined, leading up to a satisfying climax. A plot outline is as good a a spoiler - no spoilers here. All the actors, bad guys - Yakima Canutt and Denny Meadows - and good guys are okay. Nelson McDowell, usually cast as am undertaker, as he is here, gives a little comic relief. Marion Burns is the love interest here - IMDb says between 1932-61 she appeared in 15 films/ TV shows. Although IMDb says 53:00, we get 55:21 here. And. yes, Wayne and Burns get married. One more enjoyable film in this series.

After John Wayne initially washed out as a leading man in big pictures, he made a string of poor man's westerns for Lone Star (Monogram). I've seen a couple of these and they're a pretty mixed bag. This one's fine, with plenty of chases, some pretty okay gunfights and fairly silly fisticuffs, and a few scenes where you can definitely see the Duke we know and love shining through.

Check out around 23:30, for instance, when the recuperating John recognizes his father's killer. It's subtle, but I can already hear indications of his more famous roles in this little exchange.